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Grant recipient

Søren Nielsen

Novel Metabolic Roles of Long Non-Coding RNAs in Human Adipocytes
Grant amount: DKK 9.991.673
Søren Nielsen says: “Whereas most of the approximately 20,000 human protein coding genes are very well described in terms of function and structure, surprisingly little is known about the approximately 60,000 noncoding genes. Further, their acute roles as potential regulators of metabolic processes are largely unknown. In this project, we will investigate how noncoding RNAs can regulate the metabolism of two types of fat cells, brown and white. The two types of fat cells are very different in terms of function. Brown fat consumes energy and releases the energy as heat when a person is exposed to cold. White fat is used for energy storage. Both types of fat play important roles in relation to lifestyle-related diseases and type 2 diabetes. Therefore, we will use these cells to examine how noncoding RNAs can regulate their metabolism. We will do that by observing how the noncoding RNAs change location and bind to proteins in the cell and whether that relocation is connected to the structure of the noncoding RNA.”
Søren Nielsen
Søren Nielsen
Group Leader, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen